


Everlasting love

by LadyGwenllian



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Cultural Differences, Deception, Denial, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Glitter, Goblins, Magic, Magic Mirrors, Polyamorous Fae, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22685515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyGwenllian/pseuds/LadyGwenllian
Summary: Who in their right mind would choose a regular high school's Halloween party, when you could go to the Goblin King's Samhain ball instead? Not Sarah Williams, that's for sure.
Relationships: Jareth/Sarah Williams
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	1. The Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Syksy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syksy/gifts).



> Hi, Syksy. You didn't request Labyrinth this year, but since you have done so previously, and it was in the tag set, I thought you wouldn't mind this treat ;)
> 
> I'm sorry, only the first chapter of the story was ready on time. I had the story arc written down, but this thing just kept growing in every direction :D
> 
> I hope this is to your liking :)
> 
> I owe MechanicalRain my life and my unborn children for proofreading this on ridiculously tight schedule.

Sarah carefully pressed her needle through soft, moss green velvet, securing the last deep red bead to its place. Then she tied off the thread and cut it.

“And there!”

She held the dress she had just finished before her, a pleased smile on her face. It was medievalish in style with bateau neckline, flared skirts, and almost floor-length sleeves. She had painstakingly hand-embroidered the intricate patterns in the hem and sleeves with a gold-colored thread, and the red beads decorating the embroidery were glass, not plastic.

Sarah carefully folded the dress over the back of her chair and turned to look at her dresser where a lush, fiery red wig and a venetian-styled half mask were resting on a wig head. The mask was painted gold and decorated with red rhinestones. Curved horns protruded from its forehead. 

It had taken her forever and then some to put together the costume, but now it was finally done, and she would look stunning at the Halloween ball of her high school. Too bad that most of the other participants would very probably be wearing cheap Dracula cloaks from a novelty shop or something similarly kitschy. She was casting pearls before swine, really. 

Sarah was putting her dress on her dress form when she heard a knock from the mirror of her dresser. She turned around to see a small, elderly man with big nose and friendly eyes waving at her from the other side of the glass.

"Hoggle!" Sarah exclaimed, pleasantly surprised, and gestured to her friend to enter the room. "Come in, come in." 

The goblin stepped through the mirror like it was merely air, careful not to kick anything on the dresser and hopped down to the floor.

“Hello Sarah, long time no see.”

“Well, I haven’t seen any of you guys in ages. What have you been up to?

Hoggle scrunched his nose in distaste.

"Hmph. His Royal Pain in the Arse is hosting his Samhain masquerade ball soon and has been slave driving us all for weeks. I've been up to my nostrils in flower arrangements."

“Oh!” Sarah exclaimed excitedly. “I’m also going to a Samhain ball - or it’s a Halloween ball actually, but it’s practically the same thing. Halloween is just a lame, modern version of Samhain anyway. I just finished my dress, take a look!” 

She gestured proudly towards her dress form. Hoggle walked slowly around it, eyeing the dress up and down and nodding his head approvingly.

“It’s a very pretty dress, Sarah.”

“Thank you,” Sarah beamed. “ I think it came out quite nice.”

“It’s very pretty indeed. I bet you’d be an even match to some of the fae maidens at Jareth’s party.”

“You really think so? Oh, It must be such a wonderful party,” Sarah said dreamily.

“Nah,” Hoggle answered, looking unimpressed. “It’s mostly just uptight fae gossiping and trying to impress His Glittery Highness. The food is good though.”

Suddenly an idea came to Sarah. It was a bit dangerous and very intriguing.

“Do you need an invitation to go there?”

“Not really,” Hoggle said examining the red glass beads in Sarah’s embroidery. “All Goblin King’s subjects are welcome. You just have to state your name when you enter the castle.”

“Can you take me there?”

“Wha...Sarah!” Hoggle sputtered turning around, eyes as big as saucers. “Absolutely not! What are you even thinking!?”

“Why not?” Sarah asked pouting. “You just said I would be an even match to fae maidens in my dress.”

“Well, yes, but you are not exactly welcome there! You beat Jareth in his own game. He doesn’t forget or forgive things like that.”

“But it’s a masquerade, right? I’ll be wearing a wig and a mask. And it’s been three years already. He won’t recognize me. Please, Hoggle?”

Sarah made her best puppy dog face. 

“Please? It would be so much cooler than some average school party, where my dress would go to waste on local jerks.”

Hoggle rubbed his face quite aggressively. “ Sarah...That’s the worst idea ever.”

“Come on,” Sarah pleaded, fluttering her lashes for emphasis. “I’ve read so much about fae. It would literally be a dream come true. I promise I’ll be very careful and won’t draw any attention.”

Hoggle raised his short arms in surrender.

“Fine, fine! I’ll consider it, but no promises! Is that clear?”

“Crystal clear! Thank you so much, Hoggle,” Sarah said, giving the old goblin her most radiant smile.

  
  
  
  


“I still can’t believe you talked me into this,” Hoggle grumbled while escorting Sarah through a small forest, towards the Goblin King’s castle. 

Sarah wasn’t paying very much attention to the grumpy goblin, too busy admiring all the weird creatures skittering among the trees and bushes.

“When we get there, be sure to do exactly as I told you. Don’t eat or drink anything. Don’t talk to anyone unless you absolutely must, and steer as clear from His Royal Annoyance as you can… Are you even listening to me, Sarah?!”

Sarah turned to Hoggle, smiling brightly.

“Of course, don’t worry so much. It will go just fine.”

Hoggle rubbed his temples like he was trying to get rid of a very insistent headache.

“Just remember that you have two hours and then you must leave and meet me at this same spot. I’ll give you the portal mirror so if something goes wrong, you can just activate it immediately when you get out of the castle and…”

“And I must be outside because only Goblin King’s own magical devices work inside his castle,” Sarah interrupted. “I know, you have told me about two hundred times. And if I can’t use the main entrance, there’s that servants’ passage you also told me about, but I won’t be needing it because everything is going to go smoothly. I’ll meet you here in two hours, you worrywart.”

  
  
  
  


Sarah had initially thought that she wouldn’t be having very much fun at the Goblin King’s party because of all the rules Hoggle had made her swear to follow. She had been a little peeved about it, but had reminded herself that the old goblin only wanted to keep her safe. 

Luckily, she had also assumed wrong. Only the ballroom itself with all its unbelievable and definitely magical decorations would have kept her entertained for the whole two hours, and then there were the other guests. 

All kinds of wondrous and bizarre beings were crowding the ballroom, and Sarah had real trouble trying to sort out masks and costumes from actual faces and body parts. Hoggle had been right about her dress. It was fancy enough that she blended in nicely, but it was also nothing compared to the most fantastical outfits in the room, which were outright defying the laws of physics.

The host of the party didn’t seem to be present. It of course made avoiding him very easy, but Sarah was also a little disappointed. The Goblin King she remembered from three years ago had been scary but also quite handsome. She had hoped to see at least a glimpse of him.

Sarah was trying to figure out if the person, currently re-filling their goblet from a miniature waterfall near her, had actual horns or just a mask, when the soft background music in the ballroom suddenly changed and rose in volume. There was a collective gasp from the guests when a large bird, blazing like the sun itself in all shades of gold and fire, flew in through the main door. There was barely time for the word “phoenix” to pop into Sarah’s mind, before the magnificent bird burst into flames so bright she had to cover her eyes. 

She opened them again just in time to see Jareth softly land in the middle of the ballroom in a flickering cloud of sparks and glitter, blond hair as wild as ever. He was dressed in a flamboyant costume made of gleaming red leather, decorated with an excessive amount of feathers and elaborate golden ornaments. A goblin chamberlain, who Sarah could swear wasn’t there a moment ago, tapped the floor with their ceremonial rod, like everybody’s undivided attention wasn’t on them already.

“His Royal Highness, Jareth the Goblin King!” they announced, with a slightly squeaky voice.

“Hello my dear and not so dear friends!” Jareth greeted the crowd with a wide smile. “I’m glad to see so many of you here and I hope you are enjoying my party. You certainly will be soon enough because now it’s time to dance!”

All the guests started applauding and Sarah sighed internally. So Jareth still seemed to like overly dramatic entrances - and overly tight pants as well. The current ones were borderline indecent.

The music changed again to a catchy, upbeat tune and people started forming pairs and beginning to dance. Sarah was trying to decide if she should go along or not. She shouldn’t talk to anyone which probably couldn’t be avoided if she was dancing with someone. But she also shouldn’t be drawing attention to herself and that was probably gonna happen if she was the only one not dancing with someone. She had just decided to go somewhere out of sight for a moment, when a familiar voice behind her sent shivers down her spine.

“Excuse me, my lady, but may I have this dance?”

Sarah turned around to a pair of mismatched eyes and a smile that promised danger. Everyone around them was staring at them. It would be extremely suspicious and undoubtedly very impolite to turn down the king's invitation. Better just be done with it and leave.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

  
  
  
  


Four songs later Sarah was still dancing with Jareth, and starting to get equally flattered and worried. The Goblin King had clearly taken a liking to her and she couldn’t help but feel pleased about it. She thought herself pretty enough, but she didn’t have any illusions about matching the unearthly beauty of some of the fae ladies present here. But somehow it was those fae ladies who were casting envious glances at her while she was dancing with their king.

“What’s your name, precious?”

Sarah made a mental eye roll. So every girl was “precious” to Jareth. No surprises there… Not that it mattered to her in any way.

“Lorelei, Your Majesty.”

“Of course it is.” Jareth answered with a grin. “I’m sure you eat men for breakfast.”

Somehow Sarah couldn’t tell if that was meant as a compliment or an insult, so she just smiled, trying to make it look mysterious.

“Say, Lady Lorelei, shall we take a little break and maybe get something to drink?”

There was something in the way Jareth pronounced Sarah’s false name that was exciting and unnerving at the same time. Taking a break from dancing sounded good. She could excuse herself to the ladies’ room or something, and slip out of the castle. She still had nearly an hour left, but it would be too risky to linger here, now that the Goblin King had his eyes on her.

“With pleasure, Your Majesty.”

Jareth offered his arm to Sarah like a gentleman she was quite sure he wasn’t, and guided her to an alcove, secluded from the rest of the ballroom by heavy drapes of crimson velvet. 

Sarah couldn’t help gasping when she stepped inside. There were piles of luxurious looking pillows surrounding a little coffee table that seemed to be entirely made of crystal, and the small space was lit by thousands of live fireflies inside glass spheres that just floated in the air.

“Please, be seated, my lady. What would you like to drink?”

Sarah sat down, the soft pillows almost engulfing her.

“Um, just water, please.”

Jareth turned to Sarah, looking scandalized.

“But Lady Lorelei! Why drink water, when you could drink the finest wine? Here, precious, I guarantee you’ll love it.”

He gave Sarah one of the two beautiful golden goblets that surely hadn’t been on the coffee table mere seconds ago, and sat down with his own. Way closer to Sarah that was in any way proper. Sarah could literally smell him, and there was something very nostalgic in the scent. Leather and lilacs and something spicy and sweet, that Sarah couldn’t name. She idly wondered if it was perfume or his natural scent. He was a fae after all. 

The wine also smelled delicious, sweet and fruity. Sarah took a sip and remembered, a second too late, that she shouldn’t eat or drink anything.  _ Well, shit _ . 

But the wine was unbelievable. She had never tasted anything so good in her life and really couldn’t resist drinking just a bit more of it. 

“I told you, you’d love it,” Jareth said, smiling like the cat who ate the canary. 

His mismatched eyes actually sparkled under the firefly lamps and Sarah found herself thinking that “quite handsome” was a massive understatement. She hadn’t noticed the Goblin King moving his hand, but somehow it was now caressing her cheek, and the touch of soft, supple leather gave her a pleasant, fluttery feeling in her stomach. She watched in a daze as Jareth leaned closer. Then he was kissing her, and she realized she had always wanted him to do just that.

Sarah wasn’t sure how she had ended up in Jareth’s lap, but there she was now. Her thoughts felt hazy and her senses were full of the man. He felt good and smelled good and even tasted good. Like clean spring water and ripe peaches… peaches…  _ Peaches! Fuck! _

Suddenly Sarah’s head was perfectly clear. She was supposed to stay away from the Goblin King and now she was making out with him. Not exactly an exemplary performance from her.

To make things worse, she could feel nimble fingers starting to loosen the lacing that fastened her dress. She had to think fast or she was gonna be fucked. And not just figuratively. 

“Hey, not so fast, Your Majesty,” Sarah said, trying to seem confident and seductive. “If we are going to do these kinds of things I’d like to see what I’m getting first.”

“Oh? So you want a show, precious?” Jareth asked, looking intrigued.

“I wouldn’t mind one.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

Sarah barely managed to hold back a sigh of relief, when Jareth effortlessly lifted her from his lap and took a step back to stand in front of her. He gave her a smug grin and then started to take off his clothes with sensual grace that would have made any professional stripper turn green with envy.

One by one every piece of Jareth’s ostentatious outfit was dropped into Sarah’s lap. She was clenching the butter soft leather and silky feathers in her arms, unable to look away from the steadily growing amount of flawless, pale skin that seemed to shimmer in the dim lighting. 

Nobody had the right to look that perfect! She could feel her face burning, and wholeheartedly hoped her mask and make up hid her undoubtedly furious blush. Then the Goblin King was standing there, completely naked, hands on his hips, looking at Sarah expectantly.

“Well, precious?”

Sarah took a deep breath and stood up, still grasping Jareth’s clothes.

“Thank you for the show, Your Majesty. Unfortunately I must leave now.”

And then she ran.

  
  
  
  


Sarah dashed through the ballroom, miraculously not bumping into anyone. She didn’t care about drawing attention anymore. She just needed to get out of the main door and around the corner, to the servants’ passage Hoggle had told her about. Then she would be out of the castle, through the mirror portal and safe in her own world before Jareth could even get himself properly dressed again.

Things had gotten a little out of hand but Jareth didn’t know who she really was, so the blame would go to the non-existent fae maiden Sarah had pretended to be. His Glittery Highness would probably be royally pissed, but that just served him right. 

Sarah was almost at the door now, and there still wasn’t any shouting or other indication that her little trick had been found out. She was gonna make it. She grabbed the ornate door handle and pushed… And just barely avoided falling to her death.

The very same door that had a couple of hours ago led to a hallway on the first floor of the castle, now opened straight to the several hundred meter drop from one of the castle’s towers.

Nauseated by the shock and sudden vertigo Sarah could only stare at the empty air where a solid stone floor should have been.

Then she registered the murmuring behind her and with an awful sinking feeling turned around. Only to see Jareth saunter towards her through the crowd in all his naked glory without the smallest hint of embarrassment or shame. 

Sarah looked back to the chasm opening behind her. Maybe it was just an illusion? But the cold wind blowing at her face felt very real and looking at the sharp rocks far away at the bottom, she really didn’t want to take her chances with that. 

Jareth, on the other hand, was taking his sweet time getting to her. There were amused whispers and giggles from his guests, but Sarah realized with growing horror that they were laughing at her, not him. Then the Goblin King was standing right in front of her, lazy grin on his lips. 

“Leaving so soon, precious?”

Sarah straightened herself.

“I don’t find your tricks funny, Your Majesty. Let me out of here.”

“Sarah, Sarah,” Jareth sighed, cocking his head like a very big bird. “Did you really think you could play with fire and not get burned? What a reckless creature you are.”

Sarah felt panic clenching her stomach. He knew. Her cover was blown.

“Oh, don’t look so horrified. I felt you the moment you put your foot in my realm. Your little play act was quite amusing though.”

Sarah found it hard to breathe. This whole debacle was going downhill fast. She had to find some way out of this.

“You… you have no power over me.” 

It was a desperate try and she hated how her voice was shaking. 

Jareth’s grin turned absolutely predatory.

“But I do, my precious Sarah! This time I haven’t taken anything that’s yours and you have come to my realm out of your own free will. And with malevolent intentions on top of that.”

“W… what the hell are you talking about?!” Sarah sputtered. 

Jareth crossed his arms on his chest, radiating smugness.

"Wasn't your sole purpose of entering my realm to deceive me? Have you not come to my castle and to my party uninvited and in disguise?"

"I… I didn't…"

"And that's not even the worst of it," Jareth interrupted Sarah, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Regardless of all that I welcomed you, even indulged you, ignoring my other guests. And you paid back my generosity by lying and stealing and attempting to ridicule me in front of my court." 

Jareth was smiling impossibly wide now, showing a row of pearly white teeth too sharp to be human. 

"I have bogged people for far less."

Sarah suddenly became aware she was still clutching Jareth’s clothes in her arms. She caught her eyes drifting downwards and with a sharp inhale forced them back to the Goblin King’s face, feeling her own grow hot and hoping he didn’t notice. But of course he did.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Jareth asked with a smirk that said he knew he was and was greatly enjoying it. “You really shouldn’t ask someone to strip for you if you don’t want to see them naked, you know.” He sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. “You humans and your silly concept of decency. I don’t think I’ll ever get it.”

Sarah was thinking that was probably because Jareth didn’t have one decent bone in his body, but she was afraid she’d start to cry if she tried to say anything right now, so she just pressed her mouth shut in an angry line. 

The one-sided conversation didn’t seem to bother Jareth at all.

“Like I said, I’m well in my rights to bog you, but I’m a benevolent ruler, so I give you the cosiest little cell in my dungeon instead. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a ball to host.” 

Jareth turned to leave and Sarah spoke without thinking.

“What about your clothes?!”

Without stopping his gait the Goblin King snapped his fingers and was immediately fully dressed in an extravagant ensemble of midnight blue velvet with intricate silver decorations, tiny specks of glitter flowing all around him.

“You can keep those, since you liked them enough to steal them. See you later, precious!” 

Jareth flicked his hand towards the general direction of Sarah, not even bothering to glance over his shoulder.

“Take her away.”

Before Sarah even had time to process what had just happened, a horde of goblins that seemed to have appeared from nowhere were carrying her away and she was too appalled to even scream.


	2. The Captive

Without the bars on the door, Sarah’s cell could have actually been cosy. It wasn’t cold or humid, and there was a quite comfortable bed in it. It also seemed to magically know her needs. Food appeared on the little table whenever she was hungry, and when she had thought how much she wanted to get rid of her dress and change into something more comfortable, there had immediately been a change of clothes on the bed.

Despite all that, it was a cell, and Sarah had no idea how long she’d been imprisoned there. There were no windows in sight, and the flickering, dim torchlight of the dungeons always stayed the same. It could have been a couple of days or it could have been a week. She tried not to think about how worried her family must be. Hoggle had been absolutely right about coming here being the worst idea ever. Why, oh why she hadn’t listened to her friend? Now she was very likely to be the proverbial cat that was killed by curiosity.

The sound of heels click-clacking on the stone floor distracted Sarah from her gloomy thoughts. She hadn’t seen another soul since the goblins had dumped her in this cell. She turned to look, just in time to see Jareth appearing around the hallway corner in his casual poet shirt and leggings.

The bastard had the audacity to wave at her.

“Hello, precious. I trust you have been taken good care of?”

His cocky smirk irritated Sarah to no end.

"Stop calling me precious, you asshole!"

Jareth shook his head in mock offense. 

"Oh, no, no. As long as we are in my realm, I can call you whatever I want, and you can call me "Your Majesty". Or "Your Royal Highness", I'm not picky.”

Sarah really wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Fuck you! What do you want from me?!”

For some reason that made Jareth look delighted. 

“Straight to the business, excellent! That, dearest Sarah, is exactly what I came to talk about. I want you to be my queen.”

Sarah could only stare at the Goblin King, totally dumbfounded.

“What.”

“I want to marry you and make you my queen. No one else has ever bested me before, and you are a mere mortal. So, I have decided you are worthy to be my queen. I also love you.”

Sarah tried desperately to get her brain to function. This was just too much.

“You have decided?! Don’t I have any say in this? You can’t just force me to marry you!”

“Sarah, darling, There’s no need to yell. Of course I can force you, but why would I do that? It would be quite vulgar and no fun at all. I’ll just wait until you accept my proposal.”

Sarah was so angry, she had trouble breathing normally.

“I will  _ never _ be your queen!”

Jareth crossed his arms, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Well, that makes things interesting, because I can wait for you forever. What do you think, precious, is never longer than forever?”

  
  
  
  


It didn’t take long for Jareth to visit Sarah again. Or at least Sarah thought so. She had absolutely no sense of time in this place. 

He had with him a goblin in a blue dress and a matching coif, tufts of unruly red hair sticking out under it.

“Hello, my dearest. I hope you have calmed down a bit?”

Sarah just gave the Goblin King a nasty glare.

“Are you planning to keep me in this cell forever too?” she asked, despite being afraid what the answer might be.

“Not at all,” Jareth answered with a pleasant smile. You are free to come out now.”

He flicked his hand and the cell door swung open.

“This here is Tiffy,” Jareth said, pointing at the red haired goblin. “She’ll be your chambermaid from now on. I made some new rooms for you. I’ll show you to them now, if you please.”

“Nice to meet you Lady Sarah,” Tiffy said with a little curtsey.

Sarah could think of absolutely nothing to say.

  
  
  
  


Some weeks later, Sarah was sitting on her huge four poster bed, staring at the dagger beside her. 

Jareth had given her a ridiculously luxurious bedroom and sitting room, connected to an equally luxurious bathroom with a marble pool that could easily have fitted five people. She was also free to roam the castle as she liked - but unable to go outside. 

She had first thought she would be able to sneak out of the castle eventually, because she had no guards. Tiffy had no concept of privacy, but she wasn’t around all the time, and didn’t follow Sarah when she went exploring the castle. But every single time Sarah thought she’d found a way out, the castle shifted, turning it into a dead end. She was sure The Goblin King could somehow see or sense when Sarah was trying to get out and manipulated the castle accordingly. 

A couple of days ago Sarah had found an armory she had never seen before. Finding new places was routine, since the castle changed daily, seemingly at random, but she had never found actual weapons before. She had taken a dagger with her, more on a whim than anything, but now she had formed a plan. Maybe, if Jareth was unconscious, or even dead, she could get out of the castle and find some way to get back to her own world.

Jareth usually wanted to have dinner with her, and today was no exception. He was always already sitting at the table when Sarah came to the dining room, so it should be relatively easy to just stab him in the back. Sarah just wasn’t sure, if she had it in her to try to kill someone. Even an annoying, kidnapping bastard like Jareth. 

Also, to be perfectly honest, besides holding her captive, Jareth hadn’t really mistreated Sarah in any way. He had this ludicrous idea of marrying her and she was already pretty much treated like a queen. Maybe he really did love her, in his own twisted way.

Nevertheless, a golden cage was a cage still, and Sarah really should get herself out of it, before she started harboring more thoughts that were disturbingly close to Stockholm syndrome. She stood up, took the dagger, and held it so that the bell sleeve of her tunic mostly hid it from view. She was going to do this!

  
  
  
  


Hands shaking and covered in cold sweat Sarah slowly walked towards Jareth in the dining room. He was sitting in his regular place, back towards the door she had just entered from. At the same moment when Sarah lifted her hand to strike, he suddenly turned around, and she hit him in the chest instead of his back. The dagger sank neatly in and the impact knocked Jareth off from his chair.

Much more terrified than relieved, Sarah watched a bright blue stain slowly spread on Jareth’s cream colored silk shirt. His eyes were wide with surprise when he first looked at Sarah, and then at the dagger still jutting out of his chest. Then, to Sarah’s absolute horror, he gripped the dagger's handle, and without even flinching, pulled the blade out.

“Sarah, my dear, that really wasn’t a very nice thing to do. You have ruined a perfectly good shirt,” Jareth said calmly, standing up and giving the dagger in his hand a disapproving look. The blade was covered in shimmering blue liquid. “And did you honestly think this would hurt me? It’s not even iron. I must say I’m disappointed in you.”

"Your blood is blue." Somehow it was the only thing Sarah managed to say.

Jareth sighed.

"If you wanted to know that, you could have just asked me or looked from the castle library about fae anatomy. You really can't go around stabbing people like this. Some lesser being might have even died."

Sarah's whole body was shaking now.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing what exactly? Giving you nice things? Tolerating your reckless behavior? Offering you actual everlasting love? Don't all of you humans dream about that?"

Realization washed over Sarah like black, icy water. She had of course known that Jareth wasn't human, but she'd had no idea how deeply and terrifyingly _ inhuman _ he actually was. There was no way she could win against him. She was trapped here for the rest of her life. Which might be forever. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees on the stone floor.

"Come now, precious, it's not that serious."

Sarah didn't resist when Jareth picked her up from the floor. She felt numb and almost like this was happening to someone else. The only things that somehow felt real were Jareth's spicy-sweet scent and the warmth radiating from him.

He carried Sarah to his own bedroom, and carefully put her down on the bed that was almost identical to the one he'd given her. Then he conjured up a handkerchief and started cleaning up Sarah's face with sure, gentle hands. She hadn't even noticed, she'd been crying.

She didn't fight even when he began undressing her. What was the point? He could do whatever he wanted to her anyway, but he only helped her into a warm and comfortable nightgown and then under even warmer feather blankets. A moment later he slipped under them himself and pulled Sarah into his arms. And nothing more. 

"I'm doing my best to make you happy, my dearest, but if you still choose to be miserable, I can't help it. Just remember that it's your own choice. You have free will after all." Jareth's voice was as soft as the kiss he placed on top of Sarah's head. "Rest now, precious. Things will look brighter in the morning."

Sarah very much doubted it, but was asleep in minutes.

  
  
  
  


The dagger incident left Sarah feeling conflicted and guilty. She had tried to _ kill  _ Jareth and he had only answered with kindness. Well, his version of it, but kindness anyway. There hadn't been any punishment or other consequences for her.

She reminded herself, once again, that Jareth was keeping her here against her will, and so had deserved what he got. But she was also painfully aware that she had come here only because she herself had wanted to. Against the advice of her better-knowing friend, who had said she wasn’t welcome here.

Thinking about Hoggle only gave Sarah another guilt trip. Jareth had assured her that he hadn't done anything bad to her friend, and had even told him that Sarah was alive and well, but it didn't really ease her conscience. She was sure the old goblin was blaming himself for getting Sarah into trouble, even when the only thing to blame was her own stupidity.

Sarah turned around in her bed for the umpteenth time. She couldn't sleep, and the thoughts about how well she had slept with Jareth that one time were getting more and more invasive as hours passed. Finally she decided to swallow her pride and go to him. He had made it very clear, on multiple occasions, that Sarah was always welcome to his private chambers anyhow. Hopefully he was already in bed.

She walked the short distance from her rooms to Jareth's and pushed open his bedroom door.

He was in bed, alright - with his face currently buried between the breasts of a stunningly beautiful, red-haired fae woman. Like that wasn't enough, there was also an equally beautiful fae man on his other side, kissing his way up Jareth's neck - and Sarah didn't want to look where exactly his hands were. 

She must have yelped or something, because suddenly all three turned to look towards her, looking mildly surprised.

"Oh, hello precious. Is something the matter? Couldn't sleep?" Jareth asked, like there was nothing out of ordinary in the situation.

The bastard wasn't even blushing, none of them were. They were acting like they'd been caught doing something perfectly mundane instead of having group sex.

“So this must be Lady Sarah! What a cutie,” the woman said, smiling brightly with her hands still in Jareth’s hair. Her own short curls were like spun copper. “You are welcome to join us, if you can’t sleep, darling. Right, Khian?”

The man gave Sarah a blatant look over with an impish smirk. His thick, black braid came all the way down to his hips.

“Well, certainly. We are kind of missing a brunette here.”

That made all three of them giggle.

“Well, precious?” Jareth asked, holding out his hand.

That made Sarah’s paralyzed brain finally re-start. 

“In your dreams!” she all but yelled and slammed the door shut. 

Then she ran back to her own bed, cursing every single positive thought she’d ever had about the Goblin King.

  
  
  
  


Next morning, at the breakfast table, the Royal Scumbag had the nerve to act like nothing had happened. Sarah was fuming. She felt angry and betrayed and even more angry at herself for feeling like that.

“You seem to be in a foul mood, precious,” Jareth finally said, when Sarah slammed the apricot jam back on the table so hard the jar cracked. “Has something unpleasant happened to you?”

Sarah’s anger spiked. Like he didn’t know!

“You say you want me to be your queen and spout all this nonsense about love everlasting and then just casually have orgies with other people!”

Jareth raised one winged eyebrow.

“Well, threesome is hardly an orgy and we did ask you to join us, but you clearly didn’t want to. I fail to see what me having sex has to do with me wanting you to be my queen?”

Sarah couldn’t believe this. Did she really have to spell it out for him?

“For God’s sake Jareth! If you want to marry someone, you aren’t supposed to have sex with other people!”

The Goblin King looked genuinely puzzled.

“That might be the stupidest thing I have ever heard and my subjects can be quite silly. You humans never cease to surprise me.”

Sarah was totally flabbergasted.

“Are you saying that fae aren’t faithful to each other?”

“Well, I’m not sure what you mean by that. We do always keep our word, but I don’t see how it’s connected to sex in any way,” Jareth said, and then furrowed his brows, seeming to ponder about something. “I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with marriage or why you are so angry.”

Sarah wanted to scream. It really was beyond her how anyone could be this infuriating.

“If I’m so hard to understand, then maybe you should let me go and make that redhead your queen! She seemed to be willing enough!”

Jareth bursted into laughter.

“Meriana? Now, that would be something!” 

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, shaking his head. 

“No, precious. I definitely won’t be marrying Meriana. Or Khian for that matter.”

Sarah gave the Goblin King an unimpressed stare. 

“That’s quite obvious, since he’s a man.”

Jareth cocked his head, looking confused again.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well he can’t exactly be your queen, can he?

“Of course not. He would be a prince consort, but I still don’t get your point.”

Sarah blinked a few times and then, without another word rose from the table, leaving Jareth looking curiously after her. She had to get out of this absurd place and the sooner the better.

  
  
  
  


Sarah was on her way to give some treats to the cute owls in one of the castle's towers, when she noticed a door she hadn’t seen before. She tried the handle and it wasn’t locked, so she pushed the door open and stepped inside. 

“Oh, hello there!”

Startled, Sarah looked around her. The room was rather small and except for the big mirror with an ornate frame in one corner, empty.

“Um… who’s speaking?” she asked, hesitantly.

“Me. Here in the corner.”

“A mirror?”

At this point Sarah had spent enough time in Jareth’s castle that she wasn’t even that surprised.

“Yes, I’m a travelling mirror, although quite rarely used one. It’s nice to meet you, I don’t get visitors very often.”

Suddenly a very faint spark of hope flickered in Sarah’s chest.

“A travelling mirror? Are you similar to a portal mirror?” She asked carefully.

“Well, you could say so, but I like to think of myself as a much more sophisticated version. Portal mirrors can only take you to one fixed place after all.”

So far, so good. Sarah had almost given up hope of ever getting out of here, but maybe there still was some.

“So are you connected to multiple places then?”

“I hate to brag, but in theory I can take anyone anywhere,” the mirror said, in a tone that said it actually didn’t mind bragging at all.

Of course there was a catch. There always was in this place.

“Only in theory?”

“Unfortunately there are some rules I’m tied to.”

Sarah mentally rolled her eyes. No surprises there either. Fae sure loved their rules.

“What kind of rules?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“It’s against the rules.”

Sarah valiantly resisted her urge to facepalm. Even Jareth’s magical devices were infuriating. Oh, well. Better get straight to the point.

“Say, I’m held captive here. Can you take me home?” 

Sarah tried not to get her hopes up too much and braced herself for the likely disappointment.

“No, sorry.”

It still felt like a punch in the guts.

“Nevermind, I kind of expected that.”

She turned to leave. At least petting the owls would make her feel a bit better. The barn owls didn’t get petted anymore, but they could blame one insolent shapeshifter about that.

“At least not yet.”

Sarah stopped in mid-step.

“Do you mean you could do it later?”

“Possibly.”

She tried to remind herself that this was Jareth’s device, and it was naive and stupid to trust in anything it said. But she still had to ask.

“When?”

“I can’t say.”

Sarah sighed very deeply.

“Let me guess, it’s against the rules?”

“No. I just don’t know.”

“Ok,” Sarah said, crossing her arms. “When the time comes that you can take me home, is it against the rules to tell me it’s possible?”

“No.”

“Very well. In that case I’ll try to find you again every now and then.”

“I’d like that,” the mirror said, sounding pleased. “I really am quite rarely used.”

  
  
  
  


Of course, Sarah wasn’t able to find the travelling mirror again. Not that she had really expected to either. She also wasn’t thinking about escaping very much anymore. She hated to admit it, but Jareth had had a point when he had said it was Sarah’s own choice to be miserable here. 

The castle library was practically endless and had every imaginable book on its shelves, and quite many unimaginable ones too. Sarah had always loved reading and now she could spend days in a row absorbed in all kinds of fantastical stories. Tiffy brought her snacks if she forgot to come to dinner, and a couple of times when she had fallen asleep on an open book, Jareth had come to fetch her and carried her to bed.

She still missed her family, but she wasn’t alone in here either. She’d had a teary reunion with her old friends from her first time in the labyrinth, and after some very frequent visiting Jareth had granted her permission to go outside to the castle’s gardens, so that he could have a moment of peace in his own home. Sarah was often helping Hoggle with gardening and they had an unspoken agreement not to dwell on how Sarah had ended up in here.

Tiffy was very sweet and friendly too, and took good care of her. Privacy didn’t mean anything to the goblin maid, but Sarah had learned it was a common trait among the servants here. They came and went like they needed and nobody really paid much attention to them. 

Surprisingly, Sarah had also become friends with Meriana. It had taken some serious effort on Meriana’s side, and Sarah was grateful that she hadn’t given up on her. Meriana was very interested in the human world and in turn Sarah had learned a lot about fae and this realm from her. Like that having sex with someone wasn’t a big deal here and it didn’t have to mean anything more. The fae felt romantic love and had committed relationships, but love and sex were separate things to them. The concept was still a bit confusing to Sarah, but it opened some intriguing possibilities. 

She still wasn’t going to say “yes” to Jareth. She might have more or less accepted that she probably won’t be going home anymore, but it didn’t mean that she was going to give the Goblin King the satisfaction of complete victory. Some other satisfaction could be negotiable though, since it meant nothing in here and, well, hot damn that man.

She told herself it meant nothing, when simultaneously hot and cold fingertips drew foreign constellations on her skin, making her shiver all over.

She told herself it meant nothing, when sharp teeth scraped her neck and she knew he could eat her alive, but would not. 

She told herself it meant nothing, when she was sweaty and out of breath and laughing at his “What can I say, I’m magical.” comment.

She might have forgotten it meant nothing, when she woke up in his warm embrace, still tasting peaches and watched how the early morning sunlight made his skin glimmer.

  
  
  
  


Sarah had just left the library to go get some very late lunch, when she noticed the familiar door she hadn’t seen for a long time. The mirror room. 

The door was still open, so she went inside.

“Long time no see!” the familiar voice of the travelling mirror greeted. “I thought you had forgotten about me.”

“Sorry that I haven’t visited. I simply couldn’t find you before now. I presume you know how this castle is.”

“You’ve got a point there,” the mirror agreed. “I doubt even the King himself has full control over it.”

Sarah had started to suspect the same. The castle seemed to have a will of its own and she had seen Jareth pretty frustrated with its changes a couple of times.

“Anyway, I can take you home now,” the mirror casually dropped the bomb.

Time seemed to stop for Sarah. There were a million conflicting thoughts darting around in her brain, but in the end they all came down to the same thing. She could finally go home - but she wasn’t so sure anymore if she wanted to.

“Well, are you going to go?” the mirror asked, expectantly. 

“Can you really take me there?” 

Sarah’s mouth felt dry and it was suddenly hard to breathe.

“Like I said last time, I can take anyone anywhere, if it’s not against the rules. And at the moment it isn’t, so yes,” the mirror said, sounding quite pleased with itself.

Sarah thought about her family and friends at home and took a step towards the mirror. She tried not to think about her friends here. She was definitely not thinking about soft, blond hair or sharp cheekbones or the scent of leather and lilacs. She knew now it was his natural scent, but she wasn’t thinking about that. She was going home. She closed her eyes tightly, and leaped through the mirror.

  
  
  
  


When Jareth came looking for her, Sarah was sitting in the front yard of her house. Though, it could barely be called a house anymore. There were no glass on the windows and the roof had partially fallen in. She heard him walk towards her, and recognized his gait right away, but didn’t bother to react in any way. 

“Hello, dearest. I see, you found my travelling mirror,” he said, with his normal, conversational tone.

Sarah turned to look at him with puffy, red rimmed eyes.

“Ninety two years, Jareth. Ninety two fucking years!”

Jareth looked curiously around him, sniffing the air.

“Hm, So it seems.” 

“I was in the castle for mere months! A year at most! How is this possible?”

The Goblin King turned his attention back to Sarah.

“Oh, time is different there. It’s hard even for me to keep track of it. I usually just don’t bother. We are immortal anyway.”

Sarah made a noise between a sob and a snort.  _ Of course. _

“Did you plan this? Hid the travelling mirror from me, until it was too late?”

Jareth looked genuinely offended.

“Why would I have done something like that? You wound me, my love. I would never hurt you on purpose. That mirror can only take you to the places you don’t want to go, and you know how that castle is. I had absolutely nothing to do with this.”

Sarah only sighed, her shoulders relaxing.

“Okay. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Jareth answered, turning to look at the sky, where ominous-looking clouds were gathering. “ It looks like it’s going to rain soon. Let’s go home. Tiffy was already worried about you.”

He held his hand out to Sarah, in an offer to help her up. She didn’t take it, just looked into his mismatched eyes.

“I should hate you, but you are all I have left.”

Jareth’s smile reminded her of a shark.

“That’s cruel, precious. Is everlasting love really that bad?”

Sarah took his hand, thinking that maybe it wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song "Lovely" by Billie Eilish was the original inspiration for this fic. I recommend listening to it. It's really beautiful and really sad.
> 
> (If you want to be ruined for life, like me, you can also listen to "Everlasting love" by Sandra, and imagine Jareth singing it to Sarah in her cell :D)


End file.
